Last week, Dateline ran a special called ‘My Kid Would Never Do That‘ which focused on ‘Stranger Danger’. I watched the preview for it a few days earlier, and it seemed interesting and set it to DVR. I finally watched it yesterday, and thought it was well done.

I’d recommend it to all, especially those of you with young children!

It was very realistic, and showed how vulnerable young kids are because they can be convinced so easily. It also showed a few strong minded kids who did a great job handling the situation. Overall, it was scary to think what could happen in the ‘real world’ situation, rather than this controlled setting.

I’ve attached links for the video below. The bad part is that the archive online for it is in six parts.

I’ve had soda only twice in the past month (maybe longer… the time frame is probably longer but I am not sure exactly how much longer so I’ll leave it at that).

If you are thinking “so what?!”, here’s what:

While I don’t think I was ever addicted to soda, I was a fan. Had it every time I went out to eat (with a few exceptions). Had it at parties. And had it at home (sometimes even a few times a week if we had it). If we had it at home, I drank it. If we didn’t, it didn’t bother me.

When all of this started, I didn’t even turn down soda intentionally. It just sort of happened. Preferring water over soda. Even at parties and when out for dinner. When I realized I was doing well not drinking soda, I started making a conscious effort to try and limit it (or avoid it). While I have been tempted a few times, it hasn’t bothered me yet. I’ve always loved water, so replacing soda with water has worked well for me so far.

I’ve gone out to eat several times, hosted a BBQ party at my house, hung out with cousins for a few days all in the last week or so — and I thought I’d end up at least having a little bit. I wasn’t even opposed to having a little bit, but I still didn’t cave!

While I don’t plan on abstaining from it totally (because I know in that route I don’t think I’ll last too long), I do plan on limiting it for sure to just occasionally. I’ll have to see how long this lasts.

We bought a Quesadilla maker from Macy’s a little while back and my family absolutely loves it. Tacos, Fajitas, and now quesadillas are some of the favorites in our household.

Yesterday, I went to buy one as a gift for someone who really liked it at my house. I was pleasantly surprised to see the sign below indicating it would turn out to be a very good deal for us!

I’m no math major or mathematician… but I do know math [with the help of a calculator sometimes :)] Let’s start off with an English class though:

Original Price = the original price of the item!

Marked Price = the price the item is being currently sold for.

Extra = (in this context) additional.

The Quesadilla maker was originally for $29.99 and on sale for $19.99. The above sign indicates that I should get an additional 40% off at the register so the total should have came out to $11.99-$12.00 (plus tax).

When we didn’t get the additional discount at the register, I pointed this out to the employee and she tells me that the 40% is off of the original price. Another employee went to their manager and came back with the same conclusion. I explained to them that the sign is misleading (and wrong!) if that is the case.

Now if I wasn’t in a hurry (which I was), I would have spoken to the manager. For two reasons:

A) What I mentioned above –> a marked price is the price the item is currently being sold for!! It’s not rocket science, it’s just simple English language. I should have gotten the item for $11.99-$12.00 each.

B) If the 40% was really supposed to be reduced from the original price as they claim, then the price I should have gotten the item for was $17.99-18.00 which IMMEDIATELY proves that they are wrong about that. The validity of this argument of theirs is ridiculous. I feel like I need to go back and pull out a calculator. Either way, they are selling the item for the wrong process.

Summary: The customer is always right. ESPECIALLY when they are RIGHT!

Class adjourned!

Homework: Poll: Is a “marked” price the original price or the sale price (what the item is currently being sold for)?

I should have prefaced by saying I shop at Macy’s a lot – from clothes, to shoes, to jewelry, to gifts and things in between.

UPDATE (4/4/12 2:24 PM): I wanted to update and note that our Macy’s account was credited the 40% today, which I appreciate.